Some adults are adding their voices to the Duval County high school protests that started last week and have centered around learning more Black history.
Liltera Lewis is a former DCPS English teacher who says she was the only Black English teacher at her school for five years.
She believes some of her former colleagues did not understand the importance of Black voices and history in their classrooms.
Lewis and her mentee Deyona Burton, an activist for youth political engagement and the Robert E. Lee High School senior class president, went to a meeting at the Duval County School Board Tuesday to find out what's being done.
"You have the foundations of education, teachers and students, and how we're both screaming we feel like we're being marginalized," said Burton. "Those are extreme red flags."
Burton and Lewis want to know what will change in school curriculums to include Black voices.
"I knew that it was like as a Black student not feeling included in what I'm reading," said Lewis. "I'm an author and a writer myself and wanting to implement that passion in the classroom and not being able to from my own perspective, it just didn't feel like I was valued at all."
Last summer First Coast News reported on an anti-bias teacher training through a grant with the Jacksonville Public Education Foundation. That training is only for 48 teachers of the year. Lewis believes more training like that is needed.
"I didn't go to any anti-bias training, but it definitely needs to be at the forefront," Lewis said. "I'm trying to advocate for students with colleagues who don't understand why it's necessary to change the curriculum."
The school district states they have an African-American task force created last year with the goal of ingraining Black history into the curriculum. The district states they've worked to increase professional development opportunities for teachers, including a recent training at the Ritz Theatre and a diversity seminar for teachers at Edward Waters College.
According to a statement from Superintendent Dr. Diana Greene, student leaders plan to talk with her later this month about this subject. She encourages conversation about it.
First Coast News plans to interview some of the people on the district's African-American task force Wednesday.